On April 22, 2020, the Prime Minister held the 30th meeting of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, the participants discussed the response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Following the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“Two weeks have passed since the declaration of a state of emergency was issued. I wish to express my sincere gratitude for the great efforts currently being made by people across the country, including refraining from going outside and avoiding the 3Cs (closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact setting).

Today, the Expert Meeting was convened and the experts provided a situation analysis based on the behavior change of the public over these two weeks, as well as recommendations. Firstly, data on the movement of people showed that the decrease rate remains, for example in urban areas, around 60% or more on weekdays and around 70% or more on holidays. It was assessed that further efforts by the public are needed, such as thoroughly implementing teleworking and other measures aimed at reducing people-to-people contact by 80%. The 10 points for reducing people-to-people contact by 80%, which was introduced along with this assessment, is packed with ideas focused on everyday life. I strongly encourage citizens to take a moment to review their behavior and I ask for cooperation in reducing such contact by 80%.

The Expert Meeting also cautioned the public in the lead-up to the Golden Week holiday period. Reviewing the situation to date, there were several cases in which infections are believed to have spread from urban to other areas during the long weekend in the middle of March, when people let down their guard and visited other prefectures for returning home or travel.

I call upon citizens to strictly avoid going out to crowded places and putting themselves at risk of contact with the virus. To that end, I ask for the cooperation of the public in refraining from going outside during this year’s Golden Week holidays and use video calls for ‘online homecomings’, rather than making an actual trip.

In addition, the prolonged impact of the novel coronavirus disease has placed citizens in challenging circumstances. As the battle could be prolonged, the government has decided to provide a cash payment of 100,000 yen per person to all citizens nationwide, in order to overcome this difficult situation together with the public. It is vital to deliver those cash payments to the public as early as possible. I ask the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications to exert every effort, in cooperation with the local governments and relevant organizations that are in charge of the implementation, for swift disbursement.

Now is a critical juncture for us to move on from the state of emergency as early as possible. Based on the recommendations we have received today, in order to achieve a reduction in people-to-people contact by 80% by any means possible, the government will thoroughly implement measures to prevent the spread of infections.

I ask each of you to continue to exert every effort for the early enactment of the supplementary budget and swift implementation of the emergency economic measures, along with making all-out efforts to prevent the spread of infections.”